Starpoint wrestling season cancelled amid criminal investigation into allegations of "inappropriate conduct"
Feb. 8—LOCKPORT — The 2022-2023 season has come to an abrupt end for the Starpoint High School wrestling team.
In a statement released Wednesday night, Starpoint Central School District Superintendent Dr. Sean Croft said the team's season was over, effective immediately, because of "serious allegations of inappropriate conduct by one or more members of (the) Varsity Wrestling Team."
"The Starpoint Central School District has received serious allegations of inappropriate conduct by one or more members of its Varsity Wrestling Team," Croft said in his statement. "After extensive discussions with and among the District's leadership team and the District's legal counsel, the Board of Education and I have determined that it is necessary to cancel the remainder of the 2022-2023 wrestling season, effective immediately."
The wrestling team is currently undefeated and recently won the state dual championship.
At the same time that the district was announcing the cancellation of the team's participation in the remainder of the Section VI wrestling season, the Niagara County Sheriff's Office confirmed it has "an active investigation focusing on the wrestling team." The investigation is described as "ongoing" and being handled by the sheriff's office Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).
Law enforcement sources said there have been "no arrests or charges at this point" in the probe.
In his statement, Croft declined to discuss any details of the allegations against the team members, citing the law enforcement investigation.
"Due to the involvement of law enforcement and other legal implications, we are not at liberty to disclose additional details concerning the underlying circumstances," Croft said in the written statement. "We ask that everyone please respect the privacy of the individual wrestlers, coaches and any other individuals who have been involved with the Varsity Wrestling Team."
Croft said school district officials acted quickly because of the serious nature of the allegations.
"This decision is necessary in order to ensure that the processes moving forward can take place without delay," the superintendent said. "The district takes seriously all allegations of inappropriate conduct. As with every decision we make, the safety, well-being and security of our students, staff and community members are of the utmost importance."
Starpoint became the first Section VI school to win the Division I state dual tournament on Jan. 28 and was preparing to host the state qualifier tournament on Saturday. Section VI announced early Wednesday that the tournament was moving to North Tonawanda and the start time of the finals was bumped up to 2:30 p.m.
The Spartans have two returning state placewinners — Gage and Griffin LaPlante — and were slated to have 11 wrestlers competing Saturday. Jaron Barrientos (102 pounds), James Leuer Jr. (118), Griffin LaPlante (138), C.J. Uptegrove (152), Gage LaPlante (160) and Matt Caldwell (215) are currently ranked in the top-three in their weight classes in Western New York by armdrag.com.
Wild-card wrestlers who did not initially qualify for the tournament have already been contacted to fill in for Starpoint, a source told this newspaper. The top-two wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state tournament.
